A Feat of Love
by katieupatree
Summary: "This day had been a long time coming, a long ago plan of the stars and the moon, and she owed it to herself to treasure every second..." A dreary day of publicity meetings for Castle, a home cooked meal to welcome him home, and the most beautiful of surprises to end their night. Castle & Beckett centric - future fic.


For Lex,  
My fearless explorer of Europe! I hope you are having the most wonderful time.  
Just a little story to welcome you home - I have missed our Caskett baby daydreams far too much :')  
xx

Disclaimer: Everything and everyone belongs to their rightful owners, I am just borrowing them for a little while.

Enjoy...

* * *

**A Feat of Love**

From the very instant that she had drawn the latch across their front door that morning, eyes dusted with sleep and lips still warmed by the memory of good morning kisses, Kate had been longing for the familiar jingle of keys to tell her that Castle had arrived home from the day of meetings that Gina had finally succeeded in forcing him to attend. But now, stood before the bathroom mirror in the dress she had been saving for a special occasion, her belly felt so nervously fluttered with butterflies that it was almost too much. She had spent so much of the day perfecting every last detail of their night to come, that she had forgotten about the moment before hand – the anxiety and the longing – when she needed more than ever for Castle to walk through the door and soothe the wanderings of her weary mind.

_Breathe, _she told herself, eyes held steady with those of the mirror's reflection, _just breathe. _

Reaching up to fix the fleck of mascara that had found its way to her flushed cheeks, Kate ran a last check through the preparations she had busied her day with, the familiarity of regiment and planning bringing with it a little calm. This day had been a long time coming, a long ago plan of the stars and the moon, and she owed it to herself to treasure every second.

* * *

Letting himself in the front door, shoulders heavy with the weight of a seemingly endless day of publicity meetings and contract negotiations, Castle was welcomed by the soft, floating notes of the song that became theirs two and a half years ago, a little pleasure that stole every last, lingering ache of the day and sent him in search of the beautiful detective who had blushed so adorably when he had first caught her singing along to it in the shower.

"Kate?" he called, shrugging off his coat and hanging it over the staircase banister to be put away later.

"In the bedroom," came her reply, the distance that separated them muffling her words.

Body and soul craving the feeling of home that could only be truly felt when Kate was by his side, Castle headed towards their bedroom – stopping at the kitchen island along the way in an attempt to sneak a look at the culinary goodies hidden there, but finding instead a note that skipped a beat of his heart. It read **'Don't even think about it!'**, the elongated flick of the letters telling him that Kate had thought to place it there last minute, the hurried handwriting of case reports that he had fallen for all those years ago.

Reaching his destination with an added spring to his step, Castle found Kate waiting for him at the foot of their bed, eyebrow arched and knowing smile tugged at her painted lips.

"Oh, Mrs. Castle," he breathed, hands instinctively reaching for the hold of her hips and words punctuated with playful kisses, "you know me far, far too well."

"That, Mr. Beckett, is what you get for marrying a detective," she quipped, words affectionately teasing him with the nickname that Esposito had laughingly given him as they had waved goodbye to their wedding party almost four months ago, becoming their own little joke of love and wonderful memories ever since.

"Dinner is almost ready," added Kate, letting herself lean back against the hold of his arms, "just enough time to change if you'd like, and it will be waiting for you."

"You spoil me," he replied, reluctantly letting her go, the satiny swish of her hips telling Castle that tonight was an occasion made for far more than a simple welcome home after a long and dreary day. A mystery that he couldn't wait to uncover.

* * *

Their evening so far had been wonderful, mouth-watering food and easy conversation, and sparkled with an added delight that captured Castle's thoughts as he waited for Kate to finish her last bites of blueberry cheesecake.

Everything was exactly the same as it had always been; the warning look he received for talking a little too harshly about his publishing team, and the giggle that meant Kate secretly agreed with every word that he said - the meal that was his favourite of the Beckett Family recipe book – the plans they were making for a trip to The Hamptons as soon as Kate could book a week away from work, but there was just something else that he couldn't quite place. It was written in the magic of the air and the way that Kate was so sweetly watching him, as if her heart held words that were waiting to slip from her lips.

"That was delicious," he thanked, smiling up hopefully as Kate let her spoon rest against the edge of her empty plate, choosing to simply enjoy the feeling of not knowing; whatever it was, whatever she needed to say, Castle trusted that he didn't need to worry.

"Thank you," she smiled, gathering up their empty dessert plates with a rush of the excitement she had felt whilst waiting for Castle to get home, knowing that the unveiling of her surprise lay only moments away.

* * *

Castle was almost too engrossed in his reporter's notebook of story ideas to hear Kate when she walked over to him – she had sent him over to sofa as she cleared up, telling him that tonight was entirely her treat and that she would join him just as soon as she had set the dishes to soak – returning now with a beauty that would forever leave Castle so utterly captivated. She had swapped her heels for the comfort of bare feet and allowed her hair to fall in loose waves, the tantalising silhouette of her body illuminated by the golden candlelight in a way that called out for his adoration, and hands holding a beautifully wrapped box that was peeking out from its hiding place behind her back.

"For you," she answered before he even had the chance to ask, passing his present over, bottom lip pulled almost nervously between her teeth.

They both knew that Castle was feeling very much like her nine year old on a sugar rush in that moment, but he did his best to remove the paper without too much tearing, the silver sheet catching the light and glimmering like the ocean as it fell to the floor, revealing the gift that Kate had been trying so hard to keep a secret since her visit to the doctors earlier in the week.

"Kate?" he asked, fingertips lovingly tracing the letters that sat upon the Kevlar vest that so wonderfully explained the strangeness of her behaviour, the midnight blue and snow white a beautiful contrast that made its meaning unmistakable: DADDY written proudly in replacement of its usual NYPD lettering.

"I always thought your WRITER vest was a little silly," she giggled, lips curving into a soft, sideways smile that spoke of love and shyness.

"We're having a baby?" he replied, too overwhelmed with the joy of all that their world was soon to become to catch Kate's teasing, drawing her towards him so that they were stood impossibly close.

"I know that it wasn't planned, that we weren't trying to get pregnant and we still have a lot to discuss..."

Castle caught her speech with his lips, so completely in love with her rambling words that he could have listened for hours, but needing even more to assure her that they weren't needed, "We're having a baby!"

"You're happy?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"I'm happy," he smiled, palm pressed sweetly to her belly as he spoke, "Maybe this isn't quite how we would have planned it, but, that doesn't matter. None of that matters. I'm going to be a Dad again, and you are going to be the most wonderful Mom. This little baby, she's not an accident; she's a surprise, a perfect half of you and me. She is ours, Kate, and that makes her extraordinary."

"He is ours," she replied, watery eyed and arms closing around the circle of his shoulders, kissing Castle with the love and gratitude that she was too perfectly surrounded by to quite find the words for, "Our little boy with blue eyes and messy hair, running around in his space cowboy costume and wanting to grow up to be just like his daddy."

"Definitely a little girl," he whispered, lips aching to be away from Kate's for even a second, both already thrilled by the new game that they had so effortlessly fallen into playing.

"We'll see," spoke Kate, fingers interlocking with Castle's hand that had kept its protective hold over her belly, leading him to the bed that had brought them to where they stood, worshipping the night with delicate touches and passionate kisses. Every beat of their hearts a feat of the most magnificent love; a celebration of their life together, of their partnership and their marriage, and of the beautiful baby who neither of them could wait to meet.

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Thank you all very much for reading!

If you have a second, please let me know what you thought?

Wishing you a lovely day,  
Katie xx


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